Deputy Under Suspicion Guilty Of Weapon Charges

January 24, 1986|By Ray Gibson.

A part-time Cook County sheriff`s deputy, under investigation for allegedly funneling money to 1st Ward Democratic coffers in return for favors, pleaded guilty Thursday to illegally possessing two pistols and ammunition.

David M. Schwartz, 32, of Northbrook, was sentenced to court supervision for two years and fined $50 on an additional traffic charge by Judge Edward M. Fiala Jr. of the Skokie branch of Cook County Circuit Court.

Cook County Sheriff Richard Elrod said Thursday that he expects to fire Schwartz as a result of his conviction on the weapons charges.

Elrod said an internal sheriff`s department investigation involving Schwartz is expected to be completed Friday. The sheriff said the

investigation centers on reports that Schwartz, in exchange for help in getting a promotion and help with the weapons charges, gave $1,500 in campaign contributions for the 1st Ward Democratic organization to a doctor, who said he had influence in the sheriff`s department.

The doctor through which the cash was funneled also was being trained to become a part-time deputy.

Elrod said he ordered the investigation when told by a sheriff`s official that Schwartz had boasted of making payments for the favors. In a sworn statement, Schwartz denied seeking favors, but he acknowledged funneling political contributions through the doctor.

``Any money that was contributed wasn`t for any type of favors or advancement,`` Schwartz said Thursday outside the court hearing.

Elrod said the doctor wrote a check, made out to the 1st Ward Democratic organization for its September political fundraiser and allegedly promised to help Schwartz get a promotion and to help with the department`s investigation into his August arrest on the weapons charges.

Elrod said the doctor, who never was sworn in as a deputy, would be barred from working for the department. Elrod said he had been considering hiring the doctor as a consultant on drug testing of police officers.

In addition, Elrod said he expects another part-time deputy, former chief deputy Robert Gore, would be suspended as a result of the departmental investigation, but he did not elaborate. Gore was directing the initial inquiry into Schwartz`s arrest on the weapons charges.

The case renewed criticism of Elrod`s hiring of 800 part-time deputies who work in Holiday Court and other departments.

In 1983, Elrod named a panel to review hiring practices and standards for the part-timers. His move followed criticism of the part-time deputy staff that arose when former part-time deputy John Gattuso was charged with the attempted murder of mobster Ken Eto. Gattuso was slain gangland-style before his trial.

The panel included Edward Hegarty, special agent in charge of the Chicago FBI office, and Patrick Healy, executive director of the Chicago Crime Commission.

Healy said the latest controversy did not surprise him. ``We advocated doing away with the holiday deputies. They serve no useful purpose,`` Healy said. ``We said quit giving all these badges out.``

Schwartz, of 160 Fairview Lane, was arrested Aug. 5 in Prospect Heights by Cook County sheriff`s police after his car was spotted weaving along a road.

``Schwartz told the arresting officer that he had made numerous cash donations to politicians and the officer would regret making the arrest,``

said assistant state`s attorney Lawrence Spector at the hearing Thursday before Fiala.

Spector said Schwartz had told the policeman that his car was weaving because he was talking on his mobile telephone and that he ``carried a loaded gun all the time`` because he ran a business in a high crime area in Chicago. When Schwartz`s car was searched, police found a .38-caliber revolver under the seat, and a .357 Magnum handgun, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and automatic loading devices were found in a bag in the car`s trunk.

Fiala, who could have sentenced Schwartz to nearly two years in jail and fined him $2,000, said he was giving him a light sentence because it was his first criminal arrest.

The judge was critical of Elrod`s decision to hire Schwartz as a part-time deputy. Schwartz joined the force in June and was sworn in as a deputy on Nov. 2 after completing training.

``The only thing that makes this case remarkable is that you were a candidate to become a deputy sheriff and you also made a threat to the officer,`` the judge told Schwartz said.